Such a laser is previously known as a result of distribution in the Federal Republic of Germany. In many respects, it corresponds to the disclosure from German Laid Open Specification No. 34 22 525.0-33. The energy at the output of such a laser depends upon how much HG energy is supplied to the gas and depends upon the quantity of the gas supplied. As is known, the gas is consumed. An attempt was made to raise the power from 1.5 kW to 3 kW, in that twice as much HF energy was supplied and the gas throughput was doubled. However, what was achieved was by no means twice as much, but substantially less. It would now be possible to increase the helium proportion of the gas mixture. As is known, the gas mixture consists of approximately 10% CO2, 20% N2 and 70% He. This would have meant that it would have been necessary to increase the helium proportion, for example, to 90%. For specific reasons, this did not enter into consideration. Likewise, no consideration was given to the adoption of a different type of cooling, e.g. nitrogen cooling.